The Kindly Ones полностью

The temperature was noticeably falling, and my greatcoat still wasn’t ready. Weseloh had a rather bulky but well-lined coat that Reuter had found for her; at least for field trips I had my shapka. But even that displeased her: “That outfit isn’t regulation, is it, Haupsturmführer?” she said when she saw me putting on my hat. “The regulations were written before we came to Russia,” I politely explained. “They haven’t yet been brought up to date. I should point out to you that your Wehrmacht coat is not regulation, either.” She shrugged her shoulders. While she was studying the documentation, I had tried going back to Voroshilovsk, hoping to find an opportunity to meet Jünger there; but it hadn’t been possible, and I had to be content with Weseloh’s commentaries, at night in the mess hall. Now I had to drive her to Nalchik. On the way, I mentioned Voss’s presence and his involvement in the Wehrmacht’s commission. “Dr. Voss?” she asked pensively. “He’s quite a well-known specialist, in fact. His studies are widely criticized, though, in Germany. But it will be interesting to meet him.” I too was very much looking forward to seeing Voss again, but alone, or at least not in the presence of this Nordic shrew; I wanted to continue our discussion of the other day; and my dream too, I had to admit, had troubled me, and I thought that a conversation with Voss, without of course mentioning those awful images, might help me clarify some things. In Nalchik, I went first to the offices of the Sonderkommando. Persterer was absent, but I introduced Weseloh to Wolfgang Reinholz, an officer from the Kommando who was also looking into the question of the Bergjuden. Reinholz explained that the experts from the Wehrmacht and the Ostministerium had already been by. “They met Shabaev, the old man who is more or less representing the Bergjuden; he gave them some long speeches and took them to visit the kolonka.”—“The kolonka?” Weseloh asked. “What is that?”—“The Jewish neighborhood. It’s a little south of the center of town, between the station and the river. We’ll take you there. According to my informers,” he added, turning to me, “Shabaev had all the carpets, beds, and armchairs taken out of the houses, to hide their wealth, and had shashliks served to the experts. They were completely taken in.”—“Why didn’t you intervene?” Weseloh asked.—“It’s a little complicated, Fräulein Doktor,” Reinholz replied. “There are questions of jurisdiction. For now, they’ve forbidden us to get involved in the affairs of these Jews.”—“Whatever the case,” she retorted stiffly, “I can assure you that I will not let myself be taken in by such manipulations.”